It is known to equip a vehicle with a Rear/Side Driver Support (RSDS) system that uses two complementary wide field-of-view radar sensors, one mounted on each of the rear corners of the vehicle, i.e. the host vehicle. These complementary sensors can support several useful alert features for the driver including a Rear Crossing Traffic Alert (CTA). This feature warns the driver of approaching crossing traffic in situations like backing out of a driveway into a street or backing out of a parking space in a parking lot.
In the parking lot scenario, it is not unusual for other vehicles to be parked in one or both of the parking spaces adjacent to the host vehicle. The somewhat planar metallic side surface of an adjacent vehicle in an adjacent parking space can act as a reflective surface for the radar energy (like a mirror). Just as a viewer would be able to see a visual reflection of a crossing vehicle in a mirror, the RSDS sensor next to the adjacent vehicle can ‘see’ a reflection of a crossing vehicle that is actually on the other side of the host vehicle. Because of this, the CTA alert feature may sound a false warning indicating that, for example, a crossing vehicle is approaching from the right side when there is actually nothing but a crossing vehicle approaching from the left side.